NATURE'S WAYS: Washed ashore

Sunday

Jun 23, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 23, 2013 at 11:13 PM

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone picking up odds and ends of shells, stones and other bits and pieces of beach detritus when I’m walking the beach. You’d think as someone who grew up here and who has spent over 50 years collecting shells that I might not need that perfectly formed and bleached whelk shell but you’d be wrong. I do need it. Just like I need the perfect moon snail shell that is almost purple and the teensy tiny bleached out sand dollar I found caught in a petrified piece of seaweed in some dune grass. It doesn’t matter that I have hundreds of such relics. I love them all. They remind me that I, too, will be just a skeleton one of these days, giving back nutrients to the earth and sea I came from.

Mary Richmond

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone picking up odds and ends of shells, stones and other bits and pieces of beach detritus when I’m walking the beach. You’d think as someone who grew up here and who has spent over 50 years collecting shells that I might not need that perfectly formed and bleached whelk shell but you’d be wrong. I do need it. Just like I need the perfect moon snail shell that is almost purple and the teensy tiny bleached out sand dollar I found caught in a petrified piece of seaweed in some dune grass. It doesn’t matter that I have hundreds of such relics. I love them all. They remind me that I, too, will be just a skeleton one of these days, giving back nutrients to the earth and sea I came from.

Although I do pick up the perfect specimens when I find them I really find myself attracted to the broken pieces. I like the twisted skeletal remains of a whelk shell that are deep red and orange or the pieces of quahog shell laced with lavender and violet. I like peeking into the spirals of snail shells through the holes in their shells and pieces of shiny jingle shells that glitter like the mica I picked off rocks as a child.

I think part of my fascination with all these remnants of lives long past or even those recently lost to dining gulls is that with each I can imagine a story. What goes on underwater still remains a mystery for most of us. We can’t imagine propelling ourselves through eel grass by shutting and opening our shells while all our little eyes gather light and information like the blue eyed scallop does. We can’t imagine the ferocity and perseverance of a moon snail as it finds its target and drills patiently through the shell of its prey with its spiky tongue called a radula. In the end it will shoot in a little chemical mix that will make the prize meat easy to suck out through the hole before it moves on to the next.

Clammers hate moon snails as you might imagine and they’re not too fond of their cousins the whelks, either, since they also partake of other shellfish. For me, though, the wonder of all that energy and complexity to gain a meal fascinates me, especially when I add in the fact that a mollusk is always adding to its intricate shell every day.

At this time of year the ocean leaves behind the cast-off shells of horseshoe crabs, the used-up egg cases of skates and bits of sponge as well as shells. What kinds of shells you find on the Cape will vary with where you are. You will find far more scallop, whelk and jingle shells on the south side beaches but if you want a surf clam shell you’ll have to check out the bay side or outer beaches. Looking for a starfish? Check the rocky areas with colder water. You can also find sea urchins in these areas. Looking for sand dollars? Check some of the exposed sandbars in the bay to see live ones but please don’t bring them home. You can find the shells of sand dollars in the high tide wrack lines of some bay side beaches but to be honest, I find way more in fall and winter than I do at this time of year.

It is no secret here that some of the best times to walk the beach to find the most recent “wash-a-shores” are after a good wind or a very high tide but even the sunniest, quietest days of summer can be full of fun surprises for young and old alike. While you are out there collecting maybe pick up any old fishing line or netting you find as well as deflated balloons and other plastic toys. The ocean and the sea creatures will thank you. And don’t forget that all those old shells are replenishing nutrients on the beach so leave some behind to do their jobs.